Dr. Doyin Okupe has declared that the APC does not have a presidential candidate for 2019 elections.
He made this declaration in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday. In the interview, Dr Okupe condemned the refusal of President Buhari to sign the electoral act which has since been passed by the National Assembly.
He opined that the APC can not win the 2019 presidential election without rigging. He therefore said that President Buhari refused to sign the electoral act in order to make way from their perfected rigging plans in 2019, whereas, the act was intended by the national assembly to sanitize the electoral process, and reduce the possibilities of rigging to the bearest minimum.
Okupe said, “APC is only using their stooge Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, and the representative of the Villa in INEC, Amina Zakari, who is a blood relation of the president, to compromise the institution and corrupt the electoral process with impunity. It is for this reason that Professor Mahmood Yakubu has failed woefully in his duty to inform the APC and his sponsors in the Villa, that before the law, they have no presidential candidate validly nominated for the 2019 elections.
The former presidential spokesman further said, “I wish to declare without any mental reservation or equivocation, that the nomination of President Buhari for the 2019 elections is invalid. And it is a flagrant and shameful infraction of the electoral act.
“Firstly, the act stipulates that a candidate for the presidency must be a Nigerian. Unfortunately in recent times, this has become a subject of both national and international controversy. Many Nigerians, including strong supporters of President Buhari are perplexed and apprehensive of the possibility of voting a Sudanese as the president of the country in 2019.”
Okupe also added that the electoral law requires that a candidate provides evidence of their educational qualification. A minimum of which must be WASSC or its equivalent.
“As of today, the form submitted by Buhari to INEC does not contain a certificate. Instead, what he submitted is an affidavit with a false claim that his certificate is with Secretary of the Army. Sadly that institution had issued a public statement denying categorically that it ever had in its custody General Buhari’s certificate. This is undeniably an act of perjury. And it is clearly stated even on the nomination form that any form of perjury by the candidate is a ground for disqualification of the candidate by INEC.”
He added, “If the INEC chairman were to be a man of integrity and a committed patriot, President Buhari ought to have been outrightly disqualified by INEC instead of behaving like an ostrich; pretending not to know what is right or wrong.”
He further said, “for the avoidance of doubt, President Buhari has lost this election even before it is conducted. However the law is the law and it must be obeyed, irrespective of the calibre of persons involved. It is because the INEC insisted on strict adherence to electoral laws that APC Zamfara state will not be taking part in the governorship elections in 2019. Therefore, what is good for the geese is also good for the gander. If INEC stands by the provisions of the electoral laws in Zamfara state, it must also apply the same considerations to the presidential elections.
“Therefore, I am restating that president Buhari is not a candidate in the presidential elections in 2019. The facts speak for themselves.” Said Okupe.
Okupe described Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP as the luckiest candidate in Nigerian history. Whether he wins, or Buhari wins, God forbid, Atiku will still be president in 2019. Because the invalid nomination of Buhari will fall to pieces in the face of the law, and Atiku will be declared winner, irrespective of the outcome of the election.”
The former presidential spokesman said he challenged INEC Chairman to disprove what he had said that the affidavit submitted to the Commission by Buhari was false, and “by this act, the candidate has become a willfully perjured individual.”
Dr Okupe therefore called on INEC to act swiftly and apply the law to the letters and do what is right and what is just, otherwise, head and tail, Atiku wins.
